With the elections for the three-tier panchayat polls drawing nearer, different political parties have stepped up their campaign in this sensitive bordering district of Mayurbhanj.
leaving the Ward Member, Sarpanch and PS Member candidates to fight their battles mostly by themselves, the political bosses have chosen to concentrate mainly on the 56 Zilla Parishad Zones of the district as the ZP polls are being fought on party symbols.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are, at the moment, found to be ahead of other parties in electioneering. While the BJD is talking of the Biju legacy and various welfare schemes of the State Government, the BJP is highlighting what it calls “17 years of BJD-misrule” and, at the same time, the numerous “pro-people” measures undertaken by the NDA Government at the Centre. Interestingly, while BJD leaders are complaining of the Modi Government’s indifferent attitude towards Odisha, BJP leaders are vocal against the Naveen Government’s negligence towards Mayurbhanj.
While BJP strategists are planning to field Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, among others, as the party’s star campaigner here, the BJD leadership is all set to use film stars Uttam Mohanty and Asit Pati, both of whom have just joined the BJD and both of whom hail from Baripada, as the party’s main campaigners in Mayurbhanj.
The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) are also trying hard not to be left behind in the campaign trail.
While Congress State president Prasad Harichandan and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingha Mishra are set to come and campaign here to boost the Congress prospects in the ZP elections, JMM supremo Shibu Soren and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, whose close family relations are here, are also scheduled to address workers’ meets and public meetings for the party candidates in this tribals-dominated district.
Thus, the election scene in Mayurbhanj is likely to hot up in the days to come. And the first two weeks of February are likely to be crucial for all parties here, observers here feel.